Mcdowell Takes Charge Of His Fate Aggressively

July 04, 1990|By Joseph Tybor.

A month ago, Jack McDowell was struggling-again.

His White Sox teammates had staked him to a 4-0 lead in the first inning of a game May 29 against the Yankees. But two straight singles in the second and a mammoth three-run homer by Jesse Barfield put the former college star in jeopardy.

He was not only in danger of being yanked from the game, he figured he was close to being sent to the minors. McDowell knew what that was like. He pouted out loud when he was shipped to Vancouver at the start of the 1989 season and wanted no more of it.

So he quit trying to nibble around the plate and just reared back his 6-foot-5-inch frame and fired. There was one other thing-he scrapped his slider.

Right there on the mound, thoughts of the minors in his head, McDowell made the decision that he no longer would use his only true breaking pitch.

``The last slider I`ve thrown this season was the one he hit out,``

McDowell said. ``I just told myself that if I`m going to be sent down, it`s going to happen my way. I`m going to throw my game, and whatever happens, happens.``

What happened was a turnaround that has McDowell and manager Jeff Torborg confident again that the gangling right-hander can meet the potential he had when the Sox drafted him on their first pick in 1987 after he pitched Stanford to the NCAA title.

After Barfield`s shot, McDowell retired the side in the second, gave up only two more hits and struck out eight before he departed with two outs in the seventh.

Oakland`s Dave Stewart, who called McDowell a Triple-A pitcher, might take note. McDowell has gone 4-1 in his six starts since that Yankee game and had an earned-run average of 2.21, the league`s fifth best, during June.

McDowell has never been one to back down, on the mound or off. He is not afraid to pitch inside, hitting both Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire during the recent White Sox sweep in Oakland.

``He`s very aggressive and never gives in to the hitter,`` says Sox pitching coach Sammy Ellis. ``He is very unfearful.``

``He wasn`t trying to hit anybody in Oakland, but he`s learned that you`ve got to pitch in and out in this league,`` said Torborg. ``He`s a gutsy kid. In that Yankee game, he stopped pickin` and started being aggressive. He`s proven to me he`s a competitor.``

McDowell, Ellis and Torborg all believe his slider wasn`t that much of a pitch anyway and are sure McDowell can keep improving.

``If you`re a power pitcher and have a fastball in the high 80s or low 90s-those guys don`t throw too much of anything else,`` says McDowell. ``For a long time, Dave Stewart only had two pitches.``

McDowell, who is scheduled to start Wednesdsay night against the Tigers, is working on a straight changeup. In the meantime, he changes speeds on his forkball to keep hitters off balance.

McDowell was a disappointment in 1988 with a 5-10 record after going 3-0 with a 1.93 ERA in September of 1987.

Last year, he failed to impress in spring training, opened the season at Vancouver and groused about it. He aggravated a congenital hip problem and lost more than a month of the season.

``It was a wasted year, as far I was concerned,`` McDowell said. ``But I worked hard in the off-season to get back here. I believe in myself, and I think I`m getting better, and that`s all that counts.``